Ninhursag
Ninhursag was a major Mesopotamian goddess who has been theorized to be identical with Belet Nagar, with the latter possibly being merely a name used to refer to Ninhursag in Mari. However, Old Babylonian evidence indicates that the logographic writing for Ninhursag was actually used to refer to Shalash, the wife of Dagan, in that city.
↻ synthesized from 11 sources
When
- First attested
- 3000 BCE
- Attested period
- -3000 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Attested in Sumerian texts.
Relationships
- syncretized with
- Belet Nagar, Shalash, Aruru, Ninmah, Nintur, Asherah, Bēlet-ilī, Ki, Shalash, Kiririsha, Damkianna
- co occurs with
- Ḫannaḫanna, ʔAṯeratum, Athirat, Ningirsu, Gatumdug, Dumuzi-abzu, Nin-MAR.KI, Hendursaga, Nindara, Ningishzida, Nina, Nisaba, Ninkarrak, Ilaba, Manzat, Shullat, Hanish, Umshu, dšu-nir, Itūr-Mēr, Ashur, Belet Ekallim, Ea, Addu, Yakrub-El, uridu-genies, lamassatum-genies, Bau, Nanshe, Igalim, Shulshaga, Zababa, Gula, Pabilsag, Abu, Nanna, Ninazu, Ninlil, Ig-alima, Šul-šagana, Enbilulu, Urnunta-ea, Ḫegirnuna, ʿAshtart, Anunnaki, Anshar, Kishar, Ereshkigal, ancestors of Enlil, Dimmeku, dUD.AL.TAR, Sagmegar, Nēberu, Aruru, Dingirmah, Ninmah, Nintur, Bēlet-ilī, Nin-dingir-re-e-ne, Ninmena, Mama, Nabarbi, Ḫabūrītum, Nergal, Išḫara, Annunitum, Dagan, Shamash, An, Inanna, Enlil, Anu, Šauška, Antü, Ištar, Marduk
- manifests as
- Ninmah, Damgalnunna
- serves
- Sin
- has aspect
- Dingirmah
- child of
- Ashgi
- sibling of
- Utu
Mentioned by
- Kiririsha
- Damkianna
- Nabarbi
- Ḫabūrītum
- Nergal
- Išḫara
- Annunitum
- Dagan
- Shamash
- An
- Inanna
- Enlil
- Anu
- Šauška
- Antü
- Ištar
and 5 more
Sources
Source passages
“Piotr Steinkeller assumes that Belet Nagar was identical with Ninhursag, and assumes she was merely a name used to refer to the latter in Mari.”
#9227 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Ninhursag was considered to be similar to the Elamite goddess Kiririsha, who was also regarded as the "mother of the gods". Frédéric Grillot considered them to be equivalent to one another, but partially based his conclusion on an assumed parallel between the presumed union of Ninhursag and Enki with that of Kiririsha and Napirisha.”
#10275 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Other deities invoked in it are Anu, Enlil, Ninhursag, Enki, Sin, Ningirsu, Nanshe, Nindara, Gatumdug, Bau, Inanna, Utu, Hendursaga, Igalim and Shulshaga.”
#10991 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Ilaba is mentioned alongside Ishtar, Ninhursag and Ashgi in a letter of Adab sent by Ishkun-Dagan, who might have been an official residing in the Lagash area during the reign of Shar-Kali-Sharri, to a certain Puzur-Ishtar.”
#11731 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“He received six sheep during it, the same number as other major deities, Addu, Annunitum, Belet Ekallim, Dagan, Ea, Nergal, Ninhursag (possibly to be understood as a stand-in for Dagan's wife Shalash in texts from Mari) and Shamash.”
#11754 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001